Tomato heaven 🍅

New arrival 😊

🍠

Just look at all that gleaming, healthy beetroot at Frith Farm, on its way to be roasted and frozen ahead of Freedom FEASTival on Sunday September 3!

We'll be releasing some exciting FEASTival news this week, so keep your ears to the ground for details about how you can nominate someone for something very special... ... See more

Monday's Harvest... Have you ever seen a beet so big?
See you at the Annek shortly.

Delicious healthy recipe idea! The Rainbow chard we get from Frith Farm is amazing! ❤️💛💚💙💜

Brimming brilliant broccoli!

Another day on the farm brings new exciting produce. Broccoli well on its way.

- and a lovely photo of Ben.

Great produce reaching great places.

Superb produce from @frithfarming today locally grown chemical free zero food miles #rainbowchard #radish #heritagecarrots #gooseberries #lovesummer #food #cheflife #chefofinstagram #thewestwoodrestaurant #beverley #eastyorkshire ... See more

Just the finishing touches left for the Monday Box Scheme Harvest - Drop off Soon !
The first Fresh tomatoes will be on their way and we're keeping the tops on the beetroot.
Thank you for the support for local organic producers! ... See more

Box scheme ready for drop off point - the annex
See you all soon!
Don't forget your bag!

Cucumbers almost there x

There's just 16 days left until #Christmas - but don't panic we've got your shopping covered!

Our stylish range of #clothing and #accessories are made from ethical 100% #organic #cotton and with any order placed this weekend you'll receive a #FREE pair of bamboo socks 🧦 (worth £5) to make your gift extra special!

Offer ends midnight Sunday. Use promo code 'socky' at the checkout. ... See more

Common #pesticides can have disastrous effects on migrating birds. A recent research paper, from the University of Saskatchewan, analysed the effect of the #neonicotinoid, #Imidacloprid, on white-crowned #sparrows that migrate from the southern US and Mexico to northern Canada in summer... ... See more

Migratory birds badly affected by pesticides Common pesticides can have disastrous effects on migrating birds. Research has shown that they lose body mass, and the ability to orientate. A recent research paper, from the University of Saskatchewan, analysed the effect of the neonicotinoid, Imidaclopr... ... See more

Here's a #fridaytip if you're still spotting the odd slug or snail in your garden!

In this chill weather most #slugs and #snails will be dormant. But it is worth checking in and behind empty pots and other sheltered places to find snails.

It’s up to you what you do with them - you could rehouse them away from your growing area, or even put them out for the hungry thrushes at this time of year. #fridaytip #gardeningtips ... See more

Slugs and snails There are approximately 30 species of slug in the UK, and over 100 species of snail. And sometimes it feels like they are all munching through your precious plants! Slugs have evolved from snails, and both are molluscs and gastropods (literally, an eating foot). They have nearly 30?... ... See more

The Heritage Seed Library list is now live!

If you're a member please go to hsl.gardenorganic.org.uk/

If you ordered online last year your login details remain the same. You can request a reminder here hsl.gardenorganic.org.uk/user/password

If this is your first time ordering online you'll need to carry out the following quick steps:

1. Click the link at the bottom of these instructions and enter your membership number (shown at the top of this email) or email address.

2. Click the 'Request new password' button. This will send you an email with a link to change your password.

3. Follow the link in the email and complete the process to set up a password. You will only need to do this once, and it won't affect your login details to the Garden Organic members' area.

If you still require assistance then please email: membership@gardenorganic.org.uk or call 02476 308210 between 9am & 5pm on weekdays. ... See more

The Royal Horticultural Society has admitted to reviewing its 'Perfect for Pollinators' scheme, after research showed plants in garden centres contained a mixture of pesticides which could harm the pollinators. ... See more

RHS responds to criticisms of 'Perfect for Pollinators' The Royal Horticultural Society has admitted to reviewing its 'Perfect for Pollinators' scheme, after research showed plants in garden centres contained a mixture of pesticides which could harm the pollinators. See How Safe are Garden Centre Pl... ... See more

Are you planning ahead for the new year?

Kick start 2018 with our Practical #Pruning course. Learn everything you need to know about pruning a variety of small #trees and #shrubs, to keep them healthy and productive.

Our 2018 #courses are already proving popular so please book in advance to avoid disappointment!
www.gardenorganic.org.uk/events/practical-pruning-0

#MondayMotivation #planahead #organicgardening ... See more

You’ve still got until midnight tonight to place your order! 🎅🏻🎁

This weekend we've made it even easier to give that unique Christmas gift to someone special.🎁

To get you in the #festive mood, we're offering #Free UK #Postage with every online order placed this weekend.

It's a great excuse to finish off that Christmas shopping!
#Christmas #clothes #accessories ... See more

We are really pleased to release our new seed packaging today! We decided a new corporate image was long overdue.

For the last day of #seedweek we'd like to talk about the Open Source Seed Initiative.

Patents & licenses on seed have spread to many parts of the world. Soon, farmers and gardeners may be unable to do anything more than rent seeds from the companies who control them. Already, the purchase of many seeds in the U.S. by a farmer is actually a one-time rental of the seed for a single cropping season. The license prevents farmers from saving, replanting, breeding, and sharing seed that has been rented, not purchased. Even plant breeders are prohibited from using these seeds to improve the crops. These legal restrictions benefit a few companies but threaten the food security of our societies.

Open source seed is seed of a plant variety the genetics of which cannot be restricted by patents or other intellectual property rights. Originally developed for computer software, the open source idea makes something like computer code, or seeds, freely available for use, and makes sure it stays freely available. The material is placed permanently in the public domain. It can still be modified, shared, bought, sold, and reproduced. Some people might may choose to improve the material to make something new. But the original material, and any derivatives must remain free for others to use forever, and cannot be restricted through patents and licenses.

You can read more about open source seed on the OSSI website below, or on our website at Real Seeds here: http://www.realseeds.co.uk/ossi.html ... See more

Free the Seed!

It's #seedweek! Read about the grassroots #seedsovereignty movement of across the UK and Ireland.

"Only 3 corporations sell 75% of the worlds seed; if we all start sowing open source, organic seed, we can grow a democratic food system." David Price, Seed Cooperative, Lincolnshire, UK

https://spark.adobe.com/page/TPzSXT2LOg0bB/?fbclid=IwAR0p2U0IevkBfVcswO-ba0r2PbF-AUZSeWqYAFPwuiXoHNE-I5JgMnhDFgs ... See more

New Seed envelopes in action! All running smoothly now after only a few adjustments: Our Ballard Brown Bag Seed Packing Machine from the 1880s. This is the first trial run of our new Art Nouveau paper envelopes, custom manufactured for us as part of our drive to reduce plastic packaging. ... See more

Exciting parcel from USA! First trial batch of custom-made paper seed envelopes for our 1880's "Ballard Brown Bag Seed Packing Machine"! Don't they look fine? Bottom picture shows the back when closed & opened - the green stripe is the latex stickum to hold the flap shut.
Next step is to test them in both our envelope printer and the packing machine.
(they did unfortunately use a draft copy of the artwork rather than the final version, but that's why you get trial runs done rather than just ordering 100,000 👍 ) ... See more

Great to see everyone at Newport Seedy Saturday today. thanks to everybody who came ; hopefully we'll see you all again next year with loads of home saved seed 🙂

Just getting ready for our own Seedy Saturday here in Newport. Anyone local, see you at the Tabernacle Chapel vestry (opposite Long Street carpark) 10am to 1pm 🙂

We got our latest shipment of seed from Italy yesterday, and Kate noticed the boxes on the pallet were now labelled in English. Read the small print 🙂

Are you part of a community seed bank project? The Community Seed Banks Academy may be able to support you with training, information and exchanges. They currently have a call out for applications.

Hopefully you're all enjoying the beautiful weather. This is just a reminder not to get *too* optimistic about sowing just yet.

Remember, in most of the country soil temperatures outdoors won't get above 7 or 8 degrees C until into March. Realistically beetroot, carrots, parsnips etc will just tend to sit and linger in cold soil - even allowing for the fact that we are very likely to get another cold snap.

We find that delaying sowing until late March or into April gives much better results, with later sown crops coming on quicker and more able to outgrow slugs & other pests.

Similarly, sowing indoors on a windowsill may be very tempting, but remember that your crops will need warmth *and* light once they're up, so make sure you'll have somewhere suitable for them to grow on. We've sown our peppers and aubergines in a heated propagator, they'll go out into an unheated greenhouse insulated with bubblewrap, but we'll bring them indoors overnight if the weather is particularly cold. Tomatoes will go into the propagator this week.

My main exceptions to the 'don't sow too early' rule are onions (need a little heat to germinate but then will stand any amount of UK- level cold) and peas which you can start in modules or trays and then put out as soon as they're an inch or so high. Again they'll happily sit through frosts. I'm going to sow my new favourite Jessy sugar snap peas today 🙂

http://www.realseeds.co.uk/germination.html ... See more

To see what we're up to on the farm and in the office as we grow and try new varieties, follow our Facebook or Instagram pages